MIAMI — The Heat have added an 11th player to their 15-man roster, and it’s a familiar face.

Derrick Jones Jr. signed a standard NBA contract with Miami on Sunday after playing on a two-way deal with the organization last season. The contract agreed upon is for two years with a starting salary of about $1.5 million for this upcoming season, according to a source. The first year of the contract is guaranteed and the second year is not.

“My main goal wasn’t to get back on a two-way contract,” Jones said after practice in Sacramento in preparation for summer-league play. “I was doing my best to get signed to a regular NBA contract because that’s what I started at. I didn’t want to be on a two-way. It’s stepping stones you have to go through in your life. You have to battle through adversity. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been battling through adversity. It never brought me down. It was just a surreal moment for me last night when I signed that contract.”

The Heat extended a qualifying offer to Jones for the value of a two-way contract in June, making him a restricted free agent at the July 1 start of free agency. But Sunday’s news takes the 21-year-old forward off the market.

The Heat signed Jones to a two-way contract in the middle of this past season on Dec. 31, and he averaged 3.7 points and 2.4 rebounds in 14 regular-season games (eight starts) with Miami. He averaged 19.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 13 games with the Heat’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.

“Since I put the Heat jersey on I knew I wanted to be a Heat Lifer,” Jones said. “It’s just the culture. I came in and they embraced me with open arms like I was their long lost little brother. Ever since then I’ve been grateful for my teammates, grateful for the coaching staff, the whole organization. It’s been great ever since I’ve been here just having the whole organization behind you and knowing that people believe in you. It brings your confidence to whole other level. I feel I’m playing my best right now.”

When asked in March if he views Jones as a long-term possibility for the Heat, coach Erik Spoelstra said: “Absolutely. We always envision where a player can go. We do that with an open mind and a commitment to our player development. But we love the idea of getting guys, young talented players who are ambitious into our summer program and into training camp and move on from there.

“He’s improved this year with us and that’s worth a note because he’s committed to our process. When he’s been with us, he’s been committed to working on his body in the weight room, working on his conditioning, working on his player development and really committing to the defensive points. I think he has to break into this program as a defensive minded player. That’s really where his potential is. But we will hammer and drill all the other stuff offensively, just also to throw a carrot to guys. But then his minutes there have gotten better, too. It’s been very intentional that we try to get him on the best wing opponent every night and really embrace that challenge regardless of how many minutes he plays and what his offensive responsibility is. He has to guard, he has to be able to impact on that side of the floor. And that got better. It still has a long ways to go, but he’s starting to understand where he can breakthrough.”

Now that Jones is on a standard contract, the Heat have opened one of their two two-way player slots. Derrick Walton Jr., who Miami extended a qualifying offer to in June with hopes of bringing him back on a two-way deal, could take up one of them.

After signing Jones, the Heat still have six players from their 2017-18 season-ending roster who became free agents Sunday: Luke Babbitt, Wayne Ellington, Udonis Haslem, Dwyane Wade, Jordan Mickey and Walton.

An NBA team can carry up to 15 players on its roster during the regular season (not including two two-way contract players) and up to 20 players before and during training camp and the preseason.

Jones is a member of the Heat’s summer-league roster, which begins play Monday at 9 p.m. against the Warriors’ summer team.

“Just expanding my game to another level,” Jones said when asked what’s next in his development. “Everybody knows I can play defense, everybody knows that I’m a leaper. That’s things everybody knows. The things they don’t know is what I do when nobody is in the gym with me, when I’m with my coaches. I’m working on my game 24/7. This summer league they’re going to get a little taste of it. When the season comes, it’s going to be locked in.”

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[…] roster includes two others who saw time with the Heat last season, forward Derrick Jones Jr., who was signed to a two-year contract Saturday, and point guard Derrick Walton Jr. Jones and Walton spend time with the Heat and with Sioux Falls, […]

[…] After signing Derrick Jones Jr. to a standard NBA contract Sunday, the Heat have 11 players under contract for 2018-19 who are due about $120 million. That puts Miami way above the $101.9 million salary cap and very close to the $123.7 million luxury tax line. […]

[…] Heat from crossing the tax threshold, Miami has made just one move since free agency began July 1 (signing Derrick Jones Jr. to a standard NBA contract). The Heat have yet to reach an agreement with free agent Wayne Ellington, and free agents Dwyane […]